His hair had been draped in individual strands over his head, forehead against the wall, water dripping down his body. Naked in the shower, he could feel the sensation, the tingling nature as the once-dry layer of skin was replaced with wetness. He could feel the droplet make its way down from his forehead, slide down his cheek and drip off his chin as it split into miniature atoms entering a puddle beneath him. Eyes half-closed, the only thing that remained was the lifeless sight of his eyes, and as he begun to stand up straight, he gradually began to lean. Descending quickly so his bottom would hit the floor of the shower, he draped his arms over his knees, opening up his legs... the words began to rush through his head, just as the memories from earlier that day began to resurface,
"For the survivors of the coming War, build a paradise, ensure the future generation is built upon trust and love. Promise me that, and even if my kingdom comes turning to ashes, I shall be content from then on,"
"I will ensure your paradise is made... Sir King Griffith,"
"See you,"
He was nobody in this world, he felt so powerless to such strength comparable to whatever the Emperor of Time had reached. He was a god disguised as a man, from the way he looked so heavenly to the way he easily sliced his arms off, and yet returned them back to him in the same amount of time, it was though they'd never been gone. He was the first mage in a thousand or more years to rebuild a kingdom from the ground up, wasn't he? But so what? Anyone could do it if they had the determination, if they had the willpower and if they had the strength of the people behind them. Ben had all of those, but there was something... there was something he'd lacked...
Why did he do it? Why did he render him incapable of fighting? If was doing such a thing, why didn't he just kill him right then and there? Why was he spared, why wasn't he just executed right then and there, without mercy? Griffith couldn't help but face palm at the thought of it, shaking his head, he laughed at the stupidity- that maybe Ben and believed him to be a good person. That he deserved to keep on living because he supposedly did good for the kingdom he ruled, something along those lines, maybe more. No one could tell what anyone else was thinking, not unless you were a psychic, but even then, some of those would go crazy just from hearing the thoughts of everyone else. Why was he spared... why wasn't he executed right then and there..?
He couldn't let it go to waste, if he was anyone else, no doubt that he would've died, and Ben would've gone right for the decapitation. But the Requiem Emperor saw something in the King, he couldn't tell what it was, but one thing was for sure, he couldn't let this chance fade away to nothing. The Emperor had power far beyond anything this world had ever seen, he was, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the strongest men in this universe. He didn't need anything, he was as strong enough as it is, he mastered summoning, conserving mana, all that stuff. If he could just get his hands on the knowledge of the signature Requiem Peace of Mind technique, the paradise he envisioned wouldn't have to be created by anyone but himself.
He would be a true king, eliminate the other Empires, and surely become a God in this New World he saw. That was... his dream, but the first step to making this a reality? Take out the competition's allies.
That takes us back to the present, where we last left off with Hawk assassins barging into the personal quarters of the Requiem Reaper himself. Needles to say, it wasn't going very well, as some of them had immediately just been thrown right out the doors, watching as they flew off their hinges, guts splattered onto the carpet, their lifeless bodies twitched as they landed onto the floor. Gliding out as his the tips of his shoes began to gently brush against the floorboards, he entered the living room, gracefully sliding across the ground as more of the assassins revealed themselves.
One went for a flying kick to the side of his head, to which August easily ducked under and grabbed the leg throwing him out of the closed window so he could fall to his eventual death. Another came with a kick to the gut, which August easily dodged by doing a back flip onto the couch, then sticking out his middle fingers to more of the surrounding area. Red and green lightning surrounding his body, the left and right sides in particular, The Reaper slapped his hands together, palms against one another-
"Orderly Chaos: Green. Corrupted Bolt: Red. Infinite Stream," The menacing tone of the Reaper's raspy vocals began to echo into the world, some of the pawns turning their heads to realize they'd been too late.
Some of them simply fell over, others imploded from the inside out, heads simply rolling across the floor generating reserve electricity that'd crackle within them. Leaking out that signature crimson fluid, oozing a pool of blood, August didn't even spare these pawns a single sympathetic glance, as if every single one of them had truly been beneath him. The Reaper then watched as the remaining few revealed themselves, looking at his hands, he kissed both of his fists and smirked, knowing that he'd demolish each and every one of them without a regard for any of their bodies or souls. That was the way the Requiem Reaper... and so, just as he'd easily predicted, they came like sheep blindly being herded by their shepherd.
One had began to create an scythe made of ice, slamming it right into the cushions where August had previously stood. Leaping into the air, one of his tendrils slid out of his wrist to latch onto the ceiling, crawling along that platform as if he were a spider. Then jumping down, he was about to slice his head clean off his shoulders, before a blast of fire came from the left, burning into the wooden planks of the ground below, August giggling maniacally. Jumping to the right, the Requiem then bumped the back of his head into the chest of another of the assassins, hand expanding to now have a muscular fist, veins popping out of every side of his skin. Sliding back, he'd realized he'd been surrounded, his foot stepping onto the somehow still-intact table, all of them prepared to execute him right then and there...
However, at the same time, a whip made of water had taken the wrist of the fire assassin, directing their hand to fire a blast into the face of the ice one. Catching his head ablaze, he screamed in terror as he held onto his skin, clawing at each side of his face, a bubble of ice extended out to put out the flames. Just then, when he'd believed himself to be in the clear, a fiery-red fist had burst through the chest through his back, and he fell over. Ripping the limb out, she held the very heart of the man as he fell right onto his face, the sounds of flesh crunching entering the world as it echoed into the atmosphere. Knowing that both of them would easily go for her, she licked her lips, throwing the organ she'd torn out aside.
It all played out the way she'd expected it so, the one on the right prepared to smash her right then and there with his huge fist, but she had other plans. She was small and nimble, but that didn't mean she was a little rabbit incapable of fighting, so, she utilized the punch intended for her to enter the floor she was standing above. Her palm burning with that radiating sunny intention of the internal flame of her soul, she sliced his arm right then and there from the forearm, cauterizing the wound without falter. The steam hissing off the stump where his lower arm once stood, he reeled back in pain, Kristina leapt into the air so she could climb up his ginormous body and wrap her legs around the back of his head. Using every ounce of her strength left inside of her, she dug both her icy-cold thumbs into the eyes of the assassin so their brain would quickly freeze.
The ice assassin was in horror of what he'd just witnessed, sweat dripping down his face, teeth shivering and gritting as they slid down to cross against each other. Top crunching against the bottom, he raised a huge sword, the icy element, the solid form of water, ready to slice through the girl without mercy. But just then, with her legs crossed over the neck of the other, her hand stuck out, fingers pushing into the air. With the final burst from a dying sun adrift in space, she summoned all of her strength, and blasted him right out the window he was unknowingly standing in front of. It took him some time for his body to hit the ground, limbs splattering apart from the impact, making a puddle of blood on the concrete ground.
Kristina flipping back so the other assassin could simply drop onto his face, watching as their previously solid skull had turned fragile, breaking just as it hit against the floor into several pieces of that essential universal element. Tap... A simple step had reverberated out, just a simple sound that managed to echo out and enter the eardrums of that girl, signaling to her about his obviously noticeable presence. The Reaper's arms crossed over the middle of his body, he tilted his head as if pointing to her exposed skin, to which Kristie just looked down. It wasn't like she was naked, so she just rolled her eyes, it was a sports bra and shorts. Something a woman would wear if she was working out in her house, but he apparently, had no idea how to act. So she just grabbed him by his ear, yanking him close and squeezing his skin tightly so he would begin to wince and cry,
"Ah ah ah, ow... babeeee..." Whined August, unable to hide his happy smirk at the feeling, part of him enjoyed this feeling. It reminded him of his mother, whenever he'd do something stupid and she'd grab at his ear... back when he was young.
She pulled him just a bit closer, staring right into his eyes, heterochromatic peepers matching their stares for one another. Kris gave him this signature burning smolder, something that was reminiscent of that regular mother glare that he'd experienced so much when he was a teenager. Meanwhile, her grip on his ear began to fade, just a little bit, but he stood there despite that, pained lips sliding upright into a charismatic grin... it wasn't huge, it was just good enough. Just enough, that she had to uselessly stifle her own humored laughter accompanied by that beautiful smile of her. Dimples popping into existence over her cheeks over her white skin along with the freckles,
"Behave, boy," The ginger strongly demanded from her towering lover, and as he skidded a bit closer, he started to brush the tip of his nose against her own. Yet she didn't waver, she didn't even let herself blush, all she did was stare right at him.
But that hard-lasting impenetrable area that layered her outside front had fell as he gave his smooth response, his voice as smooth as butter with just the right amount of depth that it melted her as soon as those collective words vocalized out his throat,
"Yes, ma'am," With the perfect amount of honey mixed into his words, August stated that as if he didn't even care that she'd start stuttering over her words. That blush that he was so experienced with giving girls, most accidentally... it came right out. Neither of the two could help one another, right before their lips locked together, that sight of their eyes, so filled with love and affection for one another- could be visible before their faces touched.
Right then and there, being just with her and holding the girl in his arms, he didn't even think about Celine. There was only the here and now, where Kristina existed, and as their lips pulled back, they couldn't help but stare at one another as if marveled. Orbs sparkling with love itself, the Reaper couldn't help but think back,
"Celine... I'm so sorry, and yet...
I'll do so much better, without you,"
Just like that, his presence has been granted the golden pass, where the True Gods resided in the Heavens above their very heads, a hand was waved. The Master and Allfather of this universe and all others like it had declared to this child,
"You are free."
Ben felt the weightlessness as the wind began to slide through his body, his arms stretching out to feel the breeze. Watching, silently reacting as their bodies moved, as if they were ants to him, the memories he'd made along the way began to flash rapidly before his very eyes. The birds chirping with their wings flipping past him as they flew higher, disappearing behind a cloud, all he could do was think. What if he just disabled his abilities, what if he just rid himself of everything so he would splat onto the ground, and maybe then, maybe this world would be better for it. In the end, despite his so-called immense importance, he was another cog in the machine made by those above, everything had been leading to this, every little tiny moment... none of it of his own will. All preordained and predicted by that Supreme God that laid above, He chose the path that He saw fit, you could say that Ben didn't drop right then and there because of Him.
Maybe it was all thought of by the grand scheme of fate, maybe Ben was needed for something more, or maybe he wasn't. Maybe it truly was all in his hands... but why was he even thinking this way? Griffith was a dangerous man with ambitious dreams, he wasn't someone to be dealt with lightly, that was the truth he'd known the second that the Hawk King had made the Emperor of Time himself kneel. Was it so simple though? That Griffith had made Ben fall to his knees, a mere human, commanding he who called himself a Righteous Emperor? No, of course not, there was something more, wasn't there? But what? Maybe he was going crazy, the air around himself spreading apart as he began to descend at a gradual rate toward the ground below. The tips of his feet brushing against the concrete, a sharp exhalation had simply allowed Ben to calm down, of course, there was nothing to confirm or deny his theory.
Brushing back his hair, he ripped out the tie that was holding it, feeling it poof right out, he slid his hand right through the straight strands. Leaning back on a bench he'd fallen back onto, he pushed out his arms so they could stay at the top right and lefts of the wooden seat. Head leaning back, eyelids shutting over his azure pupils... he heard his stomach rumble, unfortunately for him, just as he'd sat down, he needed to get up to find some godforsaken food,
"Ugh, I want pizza... I miss Brooklyn," The elderly Ben moaned hungrily, head leaned all the way back, eyes staring at the darkness of the inside of his eyelids.
"Alright, you old shitbag, stand up. Stop moping and help us," That voice, it reminded him of that same person he was thinking about earlier. Then again, it was younger, a bit more raspier, and at this time in his life, Ryder wouldn't be throwing out insults like he used to. So, by that logic, as Ben lifted up his head to show that the individual strands of messy hair had been covering the front of his face, even prohibiting some of his vision- there he was.
The son of The Moon Outcast, Azazel Karlo hands in his pockets, kicking the older man in the shin so he could get his ass up. Leaning up for just a second, the Detective of Justice took a seat to the left of the Emperor with Alex simply sitting beside Ben's right leg. Popping open the pizza box he'd brought, each of the three took a slice, took a bite together, before moaning at the cheesy taste. Their teeth sinking into the food, tearing off the layer of cheese pressed into the triangular greasy snack, all of them chewed it in the interior of their mouths, before collectively letting out manly burps. Just then, Ben went to eat the whole thing in about under a minute, Amara and Karlo staring at him in fear... it was insane.
"So..." He burped with a fist to his chest, then turning to his left so he could face Azazel and stare right into his dark blue peepers, "August called you... to talk to me, but you're not bothering me about it, so I assume both of you decided that there were more important things to deal with?" Inquired the Emperor curiously, affixing his hands so he could rightfully hold the slice in his hands. Leaning in to take another bite of the pizza he'd teleported o of the box in the lap of the youngest, he was unaware of the knowing glances that Karlo and Amara shared together with the older of the trio distracted.
"I stopped some kids from robbing a merchant that sold sandwiches. Turns out, they'd been doing it to help someone's mother, and they didn't even plan to hurt the merchant. It's odd to say, considering the aura I got off of the Hawk and his Phoenix, but... b-but I think they mentioned a dungeon. Not just that, but you have to pay to get people out, apparently 200 coins per person. Azzy and I were going to-"
"I'm in," Ben's deeper voice had easily interrupted the young man, starting to stand, the Detective and the former Student turned their heads so they could stare at his figure. Alex had decided to lead the way, with Ben following gradually behind, arms by his side, tying up his hair back once more. The world seemed to slow, the tires of Time gradually halting so the sole Karlo could stay in this greyed-out area, watching just from the back so he could stare at the rear of the Emperor...
~Were his eyes always this dead... Did he figure what was already beyond those walls already, or is this just a result of what he's been experiencing? Too many possibilities, but I have a feeling, I don't have to use too much of my brain to find out the truth~
And right he was, for the unavoidable truth no human wanted to believe had been placed to the forefront of their eyes this whole time, and of course, as the blind humans they were; they didn't want to admit it. All of them had been holding out hope that from the warm greeting, to the end of their time here, they'd have fun, but as they'd later find out, when you search for the truth behind the veil of lies; someone's bound to get hurt.